Co-Benefits of Climate Action

Monday, July 4, 2016

We just led a virtual conversation on the co-benefits of acting on climate change. The e-audience included a mayor, a municipal councilor and a researcher from Scotland in addition to researchers and practitioners from across the country. While we didn’t get into the results of Brexit, many ideas about the co-benefits of acting on climate change emerged.

Co-benefits can be both intentional (deliberatively planned) and emergent (unanticipated), and there is a time dimension, some are shorter-term while others are much longer-term, an important consideration for political decision-makers when evaluating options. All agreed, however, on the importance of acting now and wherever possible, measuring the results. For example, the BC government estimates that every $1 invested in urban trees realizes $1.88 to $12.70 of benefits.